The
Wars of Iraq

Iraq, as we know
it today, did not exist prior to World War One. For several
hundred years prior to the First World War, the mostly Arab region
known as Mesopotamia lay within the Turkish Ottoman Empire. During
that war, the British invaded Ottoman Mesopotamia, finally
conquering the area. The peace treaty that ended Turkey's part in
World War One, caused the Turks to give up control of Mesopotamia,
which became known by the older name, Iraq. The new Iraq was under
British control at first, a fact which caused a great deal of
unrest. The current borders of Iraq and most Middle Eastern
nations, such as Syria and Palestine/Israel, were drawn by the
conquering Europeans, often with little regard to the preferences
of the people who were to live in these newly created nations.

Thus, Iraq became a
nation with three large demographic groups; the Sunni Kurds in the
north, the Sunni (Sunna) Arabs in the middle of the country, and
the Shiite (Shia) Arabs in the south. The Kurds wanted a nation of
their own, as did the Kurds living in neighboring Turkey and Iran.
Though the British eventually granted full independence to Iraq,
it was not without much bloodshed and hard feelings in Iraq about
the long occupation.

Below is a list, with
some details, on the wars and conflicts of Iraq, from the First
World War to the current Iraqi Civil War involving the Jihadi
Islamic State.

World
War One—1914-1918
-Also known as
the Great War, this conflict brought about the end of the Turkish
Ottoman Empire, which aligned itself with the German-led Central
Powers. The Turks fought largely against the British Empire forces
mostly in Ottoman Palestine, and Ottoman Mesopotamia, and the
Russian Empire in the Caucasus region and neighboring Iran. In
November, 1914, British forces landed at Basra, in what is now
southern Iraq. Despite a serious British defeat at al-Kut in 1916,
Baghdad fell to the British army in March, 1917. By November,
1918, the British had gained control over most of the Ottoman
vilayets (provinces) that formed Iraq.

The
Great Iraqi Revolution(known
in Iraq as Ath
Thawra al Iraqiyya al Kubra
and by the British as the Arab
Revolt of 1920)—May
1920-Feb. 1921-Rebellion
by Iraqi Arabs against the rule of the British Mandate. The
rebellion was suppressed by the British military. This can be
considered the First Anglo-Iraqi War.

The immediate causes of
this conflict arose out of the results of the British conquest of
the Mesopotamian region from the Ottoman Turks during World War I.
Following that war, the British established, with League of
Nations approval, a colonial-style Mandate over the region now
named “Iraq.” Many Iraqi nationalists, who believed
independence would result from the ejection of the Turks, were
severely disappointed with the establishment of the British
Mandate. Other, related events and issues also inflamed Iraqi Arab
opinion against the British. The Mandate government almost
completely excluded Iraqis, as the British imported experienced
civil servants from India (also ruled by Britain) to help
administer the country. In northern Iraq, the British allowed
thousands of Christian refugees escaping persecution in Turkey, to
settle in mostly Muslim Iraq.

Kurdish
Revolt—1922-1924
-Rebellion by
Iraqi Kurds against the British Mandate. Kurdish tribesmen, led by
Sheik Mahmud, a powerful Kurdish leader, attempted to establish an
independent Kurdish nation. British forces, primarily using
airpower, suppressed the rebellion. This turned out to be
the first of many Kurdish rebellions against the British Mandate
and later, against the Iraqi government. As with many of the
later Kurdish uprisings, the rebels were put down with some aid
from rival Kurds.

It should be noted that
many similar and often related Kurdish uprisings took place in
neighboring Turkey and Iran. Government forces always
succeeded in defeating the rebels in Iraq, Turkey and Iran. Though
Kurds in Iraq and Iran did enjoy some successes, they almost
always came with the aid of foreign nations. When the
foreign aid eventually is withdrawn, the Kurds’ success,
historically, also fades away.

Assyrian
“Revolt” and Massacre--
August,
1933-- The Iraqi
military, using a supposed revolt as an excuse, massacre at least
600 Iraqi Assyrian Christians.

Shia
Tribal Revolt-1935-Shiite
uprising against the Iraqi government.

Anglo-Iraqi
War of 1941
(Rashid Ali Coup)--During World War Two, Iraqi politician
Rashid Ali seized power in Iraq and aligned himself with the
German-led Axis Powers. British forces invaded Iraq and quickly
defeated the Iraqi military.

Kurdish
Revolt—1943
(July to October)-Rebellion
suppressed by the Iraqi Army and the British RAF. Led by
Mullah Mustafa Barzani.

Kurdish
Revolt--1945
(August 10 to October)-Rebellion
suppressed by the Iraqi Army and the British RAF. Led by
Mullah Mustafa Barzani, who escaped into Iran after breaking
through an Iraqi Army force. Once in Iran, Mustafa Barzani and his
forces joined the army of the new “Mahabad Republic,”
the first independent, though in this case, (short-lived) Kurdish
state. After Mahabad’s crushing by the Iranian Army,
Barzani led his forces back into Iraq on April 28,
1947.

Kurdish
Campaign
—1947
(May 27 to June 15)-
After returning to Iraq from the failed Mahabad Republic, Iraqi
government actions (arrests, executions, etc.) caused Mustafa
Barzani and 496 followers to begin a fighting retreat from the
Barzan region in northern Iraq through Turkey and into Iran in an
attempt to reach the Soviet Union. They reached the U.S.S.R. on
June 15, 1947, followed by the Iranian Army. (O’Ballance,
1973).
al-Wathbah
Uprising-
(Jan.
to May, 1948) --
Anti government uprising led by Iraqi leftists. This revolt was
sparked by the Treaty of Portsmouth, in which Iraq agreed to let
Britain keep military bases in Iraq and maintain continued
influence in Iraqi foreign affairs. The imposition of martial law
in May, 1948 allowed the government to crush the rebellion, just
in time for the Iraqi army to travel to Palestine for the First
Arab-Israeli War.

First
Arab-Israeli War
-1948-1949-Israel
declared independence from the British Mandate Authority on May 1,
1948, and is subsequently invaded by the armies of Egypt, Syria,
Lebanon, Transjordan, Iraq, and Saudi Arabia. This is actually a
continuation of the violence between Jewish (Israeli) militias and
Palestinian Arab militias in the leadup to the British withdrawal.
The war concludes on July 20, 1949 with the last Israeli armistice
with the Arab nations. A legal state of war continued to exist,
despite the temporary end of conventional combat. A legal state of
war between Iraq and Israel continues to this day.

Army
Revolt/Coup-
July
14, 1958--Brigadier
General Abdul Karim el Qassim overthrows the royal government of
King Faisal II. Both the king and Prime Minister Nouri al Said are
killed. Qassim soon withdrew Iraq from the pro-Western Baghdad
Pact and established friendly relations with the Soviet
Union.

Kurdish
Revolt—1961-1970–After a period of relative calm, Iraqi government
promises of Kurdish autonomy, or self-rule, went unfulfilled,
sparking discontent and eventual rebellion among the Kurds in
1961. Mullah Mustafa Barzani is again a leader of the
Kurdish forces. Beginning in 1963, Syrian Army and Air Force
units aid the Iraqi military in fighting against the Kurds.
A cease-fire in 1964, lasting until April of 1965, can be
seen as a dividing point between two separate conflicts, though
this web site interprets this rebellion as one continuous
conflict. This prolonged period of Kurdish-Iraqi fighting
ends in 1970 with a cease-fire and a government guarantee of
Kurdish autonomy.

Six-Day
War (3rd Arab-Israeli War) 1967--Israel
launched a pre-emptive attack on Egypt, Jordan, and Syria, fearing
they were preparing to launch their own attack. The Israeli air
force also attacked Iraqi airfields. Iraq sent ground forces to
support the Jordanians and the Syrians.

Ramadan
(Yom Kipper) War -1973-1974
-Egypt and Syria launched a surprise attack on Israel during the
Jewish Yom Kippur holiday. The attack also fell on the Muslim
holiday of Ramadan. Iraq sent army and air forces to support
Syria.

Kurdish
Revolt -March,
1974-–In March, 1974, Kurdish rebels led by Mullah Mustafa
Barzani (having survived an assassination attempt) rebelled
against the government. The Kurds felt that the government
was not living up to the agreement which ended the previous
revolt. The Iraqi Kurds were supported by the Shah (King) of
neighboring Iran, who sought to put pressure on the Iraqi
government over a border dispute. The Kurds were also
assisted by the American Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), who
opposed the Iraqi government due to its friendly relations with
the Soviet Union. After an agreement between the Shah of
Iran and Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein in 1975, (which temporarily
settled the border dispute until the Iran-Iraq War began in 1980),
the Kurds collapsed under intense Iraqi military pressure.
The CIA, allied to the Shah, also suspended aid. Kurds cite
this betrayal by two key allies as evidence supporting their
future distrust of American attempts to incite them to fight
Saddam Hussein’s forces in the 1990s and in the early years
of the 21st Century.
Intra-Kurdish
warfare 1978-1979--In 1975, Jalal
Talabani formed the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK)-urban-based
and leftist) in opposition the Barzani-led Kurdish Democratic
Party (KDP).

Shia
unrest in Karbala -February,
1979--Suppressed
by the Saddam regime. Under Saddam Hussein, the Shiites (Shia)
were a persecuted religious group, both despite the fact, and
because of, their numerical majority in the country.

The
First Persian Gulf War (also known as the Iran-Iraq
War)—1980-1988- In 1975, Iraq and Iran came to an agreement on the disputed
Shatt al-Arab waterway which provides Iraq’s only outlet to
the sea. In exchange for Iran stopping support for Kurdish
rebels, Iraq agreed to share the Shatt al-Arab with Iran.
This and other disputes over their common border, plus the belief
that the 1979 revolution had weakened Iran, led Iraqi leader
Saddam Hussein to launch an invasion of Iran on September
22, 1980. After initial successes, the Iraqi army ground to
a halt and soon retreated under repeated assaults by the
numerically larger Iranian Army and Revolutionary Guards.
After the Iranians pushed the war into Iraq, Saddam’s forces
began using chemical weapons. By 1988, both nations faced
exhaustion and, after nearly a million casualties between them,
agreed to end the conflict.

Osiraq
Reactor Raid—June
7, 1981
–Fearing the consequences of a successful Iraqi nuclear
weapons program, Israel launched a pre-emptive air strike on the
Osiraq nuclear reactor (under construction) in June, 1981.
One of the pilots (the youngest) in that raid was Ilan Ramon, who
later became Israel’s first astronaut, and who died in the
Space Shuttle Columbia tragedy on February 1, 2003.
Kurdish
Revolt—1983-1988
–During the Iran-Iraq War (1980-1988), Iraqi Kurds, aided by
Iran, fought against Iraqi government forces. In 1987 and 1988,
the Iraqi military used chemical weapons to kill thousands of
Kurds (including many civilians) in a successful effort to break
the back of the resistance.

Iraq-Kuwait
Relations

1961-
Iraq
threatens Kuwait, claiming that it belonged to Iraq because of old
Ottoman territorial claims. The British supported Kuwait by
sending military forces to Kuwait. Saddam Hussein used similar
excuses for his 1991 invasion of
Kuwait.

1973
(March)- Iraq
occupies as Samitah, a border post on Kuwait-Iraq border. Dispute
began when Iraq demanded the right to occupy the Kuwaiti islands
of Bubiyan and Warbah. Saudi and the Arab League convinced Iraq to
withdraw.

The
Second
Persian Gulf War
(known in the U.S. as “Operation Desert
Storm”—Aug.
2, 1990-Feb. 1991– On August 2, 1990, Iraqi forces invaded and quickly
conquered the small, oil-rich emirate of Kuwait. Almost
immediately, an international coalition of nations gathered a
powerful military force under the authority of the United Nations
and the leadership of the United States, first to defend the
United States, first to defend the oil-rich kingdom of Saudi
Arabia, and secondly, to force Iraq to withdraw from occupied
Kuwait. From the beginning of the crisis, the United Kingdom, led
by Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, worked very closely with the
U.S. in assuming a determined posture against Saddam Hussein's
territorial ambition.

Kurdish
Revolt—1991
–Encouraged
by the stunning defeat of Saddam’s forces in Kuwait and
spurred by appeals by President George H. W. Bush of the U.S.,
Kurds rose up against the Iraqi government With the bulk of
his elite forces having escaped from the fighting in Kuwait and
southern Iraq, Saddam was able to quell the revolt, causing
hundreds of thousands of Kurdish refugees to flee into neighboring
Turkey and Iran to escape.

Shiite
Revolt—1991– Encouraged by the stunning defeat of Saddam’s
forces in Kuwait and spurred by appeals by President George H. W.
Bush of the U.S., the Shiites of southern Iraq rose up against the
Iraqi government, only to be crushed by Saddam’s forces.
Sporadic guerrilla resistance continued, with the bulk of the
Shiite fighting forces seeking refuge in neighboring Shiite
Iran.

The
"No-Fly Zone War" --1991-2003--Following
the cease-fire ending the Gulf War, the Allies, (U.S., U.K., and
France) had the right to conduct air patrols over parts of Iraq to
ensure Iraqi compliance with the cease-fire terms. France soon
left the Coalition, but U.S. and British planes continued to
patrol Iraqi skies, often drawing anti-aircraft fire from the
ground. Several major bombing campaigns were launched to punish
the Baghdad regime. This conflict officially ended when the Third
Gulf War began in March, 2003.

Intra-Kurdish
warfare--1996– Combat
between various Kurdish militias.

The
Third
Persian Gulf War(known
in the U.S. as “Operation Iraqi
Freedom”)—March
19, 2003- 2011
The current war can be seen in at least two distinct phases: The
Invasion and the Occupation. Though Saddam's regime fell fairly
quickly, the insurgency was able to gain strength in large part
because the U.S. and Coalition leadership was slow to recognize
that they had a nascent guerrilla movement underfoot. Though the
Iraqi people have voted, and now have an elected government
(featuring a Kurdish president!), the situation is now changing
from a war against the occupier, to becoming more of a civil war
among Iraqis.

Iraq
War Combat Video

Iraq
Civil War(2006-Present)

A
confused and complex conflict that pitted the new, sovereign Iraqi
government of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki. While the first
years of this conflict is also a part of the Iraqi Insurgency
against the American and Coalition occupation, it was also a
rejection of the Shia-dominated al-Maliki government. While the
Iraqi government and allied groups have remained in power, a
variety of different rebel groups, militias, and
foreign-influenced factions have battled the government's armed
forces, and at times, each other.

In
the summer of 2014, one of the Sunni Jihadist groups, known by the
acronym, ISIL or ISIS, (the literal English translation of the
group's Arabic name is Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham. Al-Sham
is the Arabic term for the region encompassing modern Syria,
Lebanon, Jordan, and Palestine/Israel. To Westerners, this al-Sham
region translates to the historical term "Levant," thus the
Western acronym is ISIL), seized huge swaths of northern and
western Iraq, including the cities of Mosul, Fallujah, and Tikrit,
and threatened to march on Baghdad. ISIL is also actively
combating the Assad regime in Syria, and by the time of their
successes in Iraq, ISIL also controlled large areas of northern
and eastern Syria. On June 29, 2014, ISIL changed its name to The
Islamic State, declaring a new Caliphate in the Muslim world.

In
response, the United States, Iran, and Russia all provided
material assistance to the Iraqi government, with the U.S. sending
several hundred military advisors, and Iran providing combat
troops to help stop the Islamic State onslaught.

SOURCES

Iraq: A Country
Study Helen Chapin Metz, Federal Research Division, Library of
Congress. 1990, U.S. Government Printing Office.